Bullet trains coming to the UK

[stek]

There's a Bullet Train at York Railway Museum, you can go on it and sit down on the little Jap seats...

[Mich the Tester]

They are not cost effective.

Trains are only good for freight these days.

What do you mean, 'not cost effecive'?

Business travel from one European city to another, particularly where a flight would be less than 2 hours flying time, is often quicker by high speed train; the time saved by going city centre to city centre without long queues, traffic jams, over the top security checks, parking at some huge airport then walking to the gate etc, is very valuable for many travellers. If I want to go from Brussels city centre to London city centre by air, it'll take me almost all bloody day, but with the train just a couple of hours. Same goes for many continental destinations. And of course I can work in the train and invoice for those hours; OK, not everyone's an IT contractor but you can be pretty sure that the time of most the people in 1st class and many of those in 2nd class is more expensive than the price differential between rail and air.

[Troll]

I wasn't a supporter of rail privatisation, but I do remember that train services were poor before that happened.

So I wouldn't blame privatisation specifically, it just brought a variation in the reasons.

IIRC it was crap but cheap pre-privatisation, now we have swapped it for expensive and krap

[d000hg]

They are not cost effective.

Trains are only good for freight these days.

If they're not cost-effective for people, why are they for freight?

And why aren't they cost-effective?

If you live and work near two connected stations, trains are a far better option - quicker and sometimes cheaper than driving.

[Robinho]

If they're not cost-effective for people, why are they for freight?

And why aren't they cost-effective?

If you live and work near two connected stations, trains are a far better option - quicker and sometimes cheaper than driving.

Because freight and passengers have completely different requirements.

Passenger trains are still effective in certain situations but we shouldn't be pumping the billions that we pump into them. Eg HS2 and this. Remember that we already subsidise the trains to the order of 4 billion a year.

[Robinho]

What do you mean, 'not cost effecive'?

Business travel from one European city to another, particularly where a flight would be less than 2 hours flying time, is often quicker by high speed train; the time saved by going city centre to city centre without long queues, traffic jams, over the top security checks, parking at some huge airport then walking to the gate etc, is very valuable for many travellers. If I want to go from Brussels city centre to London city centre by air, it'll take me almost all bloody day, but with the train just a couple of hours. Same goes for many continental destinations. And of course I can work in the train and invoice for those hours; OK, not everyone's an IT contractor but you can be pretty sure that the time of most the people in 1st class and many of those in 2nd class is more expensive than the price differential between rail and air.

Yes and how much did we spend on a rail line to Brussels and Paris. Must have been about 20 billion in the end. All written off by the tax payer. Yes it is more convenient than flying but if they actually passed the construction costs onto the passenger you wouldn't be saying it was cost effective.

[Mich the Tester]

Because freight and passengers have completely different requirements.

Passenger trains are still effective in certain situations but we shouldn't be pumping the billions that we pump into them. Eg HS2 and this. Remember that we already subsidise the trains to the order of 4 billion a year.

How many deals are done by people sitting in trains? How much work is done by people and companies on trains? How many people travel from one place to another by train to do profitable work and how much is that work worth to the economy?

If your argument was valid then it would be a good argument to stop spending money on roads too.

[stek]

What do you mean, 'not cost effecive'?

Business travel from one European city to another, particularly where a flight would be less than 2 hours flying time, is often quicker by high speed train; the time saved by going city centre to city centre without long queues, traffic jams, over the top security checks, parking at some huge airport then walking to the gate etc, is very valuable for many travellers. If I want to go from Brussels city centre to London city centre by air, it'll take me almost all bloody day, but with the train just a couple of hours. Same goes for many continental destinations. And of course I can work in the train and invoice for those hours; OK, not everyone's an IT contractor but you can be pretty sure that the time of most the people in 1st class and many of those in 2nd class is more expensive than the price differential between rail and air.

As a matter of interest, how much is the Eurostar to Brussels realistically for a weekly commute? I know the web site goes on about 'from £49' or whatever but by the time you've clicked through ends up as £286.......

Yes, just had a call 'Got a contract in Brussels you might be interested in......'

[Robinho]

We don't subsidise the roads. The costs are covered by road tax and petrol duty to my knowledge.

We do subsidies the trains though. If people were productive on the trains, companies would be happy to pay more for their train ticket because they knew they would get more productivity out of their employees vs letting them drive.

[Mich the Tester]

As a matter of interest, how much is the Eurostar to Brussels realistically for a weekly commute? I know the web site goes on about 'from £49' or whatever but by the time you've clicked through ends up as £286.......

Yes, just had a call 'Got a contract in Brussels you might be interested in......'

Dunno, I think you get different prices whether you buy in UK or the Belgiumland or NL, but yes, you can get 49 quid, but you might have to travel at a silly time. Don't go thinking it's any cheaper than Sleazyjet or the likes; it isn't, you get the savings by increasing your billable hours. Oh, and it's MUCH more comfy.